93
votes
Accepted
What happened in Rome, when the western empire "fell"?
By 476 the city of Rome had not been the center of the Empire for a long while. Diocletian, picking up the pieces after the crisis of the third century, made a point of snubbing Rome compared to the "...
- 927
51
votes
Accepted
Did the Byzantines ever attempt to move their capital to Rome?
No, they did not try to move their capital to Rome, but the Emperor Heraclius at one point--around 620 or so when the war against Persia was going very badly--did consider moving the capital even ...
- 4,237
49
votes
Accepted
How was Rome able to conscript and equip 400k soldiers during 2nd Punic War in a pre-industrial society?
MCW already mentioned Bret Deveraux; I will be drawing on his blog for the answer to your central question: how did Rome put so many men under arms? Regardless of the precise math, Deveraux agrees ...
- 16.8k
47
votes
Did the Byzantines ever attempt to move their capital to Rome?
The Early Middle Ages were not kind to Rome, and the long destructive war to recapture it didn't help things. By the time the dust settled, Rome had practically ceased to exist as a major city, with ...
- 126k
35
votes
Accepted
Who was this Roman General/figure of authority who, on his deathbed, named these two regrets?
Plutarch's Lives says this about Marcus Cato:
He would likewise say ... and that in his whole life he most repented of
three things; one was, that he had trusted a secret to a woman;
another,...
- 6,567
24
votes
Accepted
Tombstone-covered floor in Churches
Yes, this was perfectly common. It was seen as a privilege to be buried inside the church (the closer to the altar, the better). These are not cenotaphs, these are actual tombs, with people slowly ...
- 5,733
22
votes
Accepted
Why didn't the Roman Princeps restructure or dismantle the Praetorian Guard?
tl;dr
Why didn't Roman emperors restructure or dismantle the Praetorian Guard?
Several tried. It didn't end well for them. Most paid for the attempt with their lives.
Although most people tend to ...
- 77.7k
19
votes
Accepted
Did ancient Rome have slave hunters?
It appears there were 'professional' slave hunters during Roman times, who were paid to hunt down and return fugative slaves.
From Johnston's The Private Life of Romans:
If he attempted flight, he ...
- 41.8k
18
votes
How did the Romans handle "fatbergs" in their sewage system?
The Romans did have problems with blocked sewers but much of the detritus that makes up the fatberg is modern - wet wipes, sanitary napkins, cotton buds and so on. Also, there are some other points to ...
- 109k
16
votes
Accepted
Why did Spartacus turn South at Mutina instead of continuing North towards Thrace?
I hesitate to try and answer this because I am not really sure there is an answer. I like to read about Roman history and I have heard of multiple theories as to why he turned back. I think the most ...
- 6,677
16
votes
How were lead sheets made in the Graeco-Roman world?
The other answers have covered the production process from ore, known as smelting. It isn't quite as simple as the other answers seem to show, you do first need to crush the mineral galena, then smelt ...
- 1,727
15
votes
What happened in Rome, when the western empire "fell"?
It is hard to describe what really happened: we only know what is written in the documents of that time which reached us, and they are not very abundant. There is a very nice book
(fiction) by Pascal ...
- 39.9k
14
votes
Did Lenin approve of Mussolini’s march on Rome?
I checked Lenin's "Collected Works," Volume 33, 1921-1923. There is nothing even close to such a telegram. (For comparison, the volume contains such "masterpieces" as a letter to a ...
- 6,465
12
votes
Accepted
What is the chair depicted in Cesare Maccari's 1889 painting "Cicerone denuncia Catilina"?
Roman senators sat on benches while the consuls had the privilege of sitting on curule chairs (which are not shown in the fresco).
In addition to the arrangement of the seating, Cesare Maccari's ...
- 109k
12
votes
Accepted
Why did Mettius Fufetius not join the Veiites in directly attacking the Roman King Tullus Hostilius?
According to both Livy (died circa. AD 17) and Dionysius of Halicarnassus (died after 7 BC), Mettius Fufetius's intention was to observe how the battle went and then join the winning side. In doing so,...
- 109k
10
votes
Accepted
Where is Hermodontus?
There's an important hint in the footnote at the end of p. 96 - it tells that Albinus (Albinus pauperis scolaris / Albinus (cardinal)) included the list of Roman provinces by Polemius Silvius at that ...
- 3,680
9
votes
Accepted
Was the Pantheon completely underwater when Rome flooded?
According to Google Street View, Santa Maria sopra Minerva is actually right behind the Pantheon (with a small square in between) and the street level for both buildings seems to be quite similar. ...
- 9,446
7
votes
What disease did Augustus recover from in 23 BC?
SHORT ANSWER
There are conflicting views as to what almost led to the death of Augustus in early 23 BC. It is unlikely that we will ever know for sure, but the main suspects are liver problems, a ...
- 109k
7
votes
What is the chair depicted in Cesare Maccari's 1889 painting "Cicerone denuncia Catilina"?
The chairs are called curule chairs.
This painting is a romantic painting. It is anything but accurate. What it shows is how Victorians thought or would like it to be. Roman senators brought their ...
- 23.6k
7
votes
Accepted
What was the physical appearance of Theodoric I, the King of the Visigoths?
We don't know.
I believe the closest thing we have to a contemporaneous account about Theodoric is Jordanes' Getica. It was written about 100 years after Theodoric died. He does cite as his source a ...
- 126k
6
votes
Accepted
Did Rome conquer the Parthian Empire during the conquests of Trajan?
This is more or less entirely sourced from Wikipedia and from previous comments. I am not an expert and I encourage others to provide richer answers with better sources.
How much of the Parthian (...
- 319
6
votes
Why didn’t the Roman Empire attempt an eastward expansion into China after the fall of the Han Dynasty?
I think you have it the wrong way. The distances are huge. Moving military forces around is hard, especially in foreign countries. There is no certainty about what would await at the end of the whole ...
- 689
5
votes
Accepted
Formation of underground layers of Rome
Did you ever hear of a tell? In archaeology a tell is an artificial hill formed by generation after generation, century after century, of people living in the same place.
A tell is an artificial ...
- 19.9k
5
votes
Tombstone-covered floor in Churches
Not only was this common, it was hard to change. In my country (Portugal) there was even a popular uprising in 1846 caused by, among other things, the prohibition on burials inside churches.
- 4,600
5
votes
Why did Hannibal cross the alps and NOT just cross the Mediterranean?
Because Rome had "complete mastery of the seas" according to "The Influence of Sea-power on the History of the Roman Republic." Dissertation by Frederick William Clark for the ...
- 39.4k
5
votes
How were lead sheets made in the Graeco-Roman world?
Lead ores are not as abundant as e.g. iron ores, but far from being rare. Galena, for example, is not only the main lead ore, but also one of the major sources of silver (making lead basically a ...
- 15.2k
4
votes
Did Hadrian have any children?
Straight short answer to the question as phrased in title and repeated in the question body:
No.
Hadrian had no children of his own, and thus no daughter. He also did not adopt any daughters.
From all ...
- 81.3k
4
votes
How were lead sheets made in the Graeco-Roman world?
Lead is soft enough to be worked with common tools, and even soft enough to be bent by hand.
Lead is a very soft metal with a Mohs hardness of 1.5; it can be scratched with a fingernail.29 It is ...
MCW♦
- 35.3k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible